Whirlwind and Earth
by Doujin-Maker
Summary: I was born on a rainy Monday, September twenty-eight. Christened with my parents blood, in the middle of a raging battlefield overthrown with illness and decay and violence. The first thing I tasted was blood. OC.


Ja-Jaan~! A new story! Enjoy!

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Bodies littered the wet ground, mostly it were chopped off parts, or remnants of the many explosions. The terrified shrieks of the weak loitered around, their ghosts prone to haunt these parts of the magnificent forest. A forest with red liquid to feast upon. The conflict still remained, Shinobi of all ages faced against each other. Little children were prey for the hardened skins of veterans, teenage adults faced off, each duet ending in the death of both. Adults kept the dispute going, there always has to be a winner. A small twitching hand buried under boulders of a Doton jutsu, so what? The hollow eyes of a fading woman, doesn't matter. Children in tattered battle armour, running for their lives? The grinning predator won't let them escape. Roads of bodies all pierced by barrels of weapons, moaning in agony. Nobody cares. Finally, a couple. A man and a woman, utterly in love but also aware of the circumstances, give each other sorrowful looks. The latter starts to cringe and scowl, her abdomen moves and she bites her lip drawing blood. Because they don't need the attention. The male fights off three enemy Shinobi and wins but as he takes a hold of the fairy hand of his wife they both know how awfully low their energy is. Fighting for a week with a minimum amount of sleep would do that to anyone. The woman cringes and painfully squeezes her husband's hand and screams until there's no weight in her stomach anymore.

Five and a half seconds is all they have with their new-born daughter. One of them was awe, the next was filled with tears, the third was relief, the fourth was love that would last for all of eternity and the remaining one-point-five seconds shock, because they were killed with two lightning bolts carefully crafted inside the premises of their hearts, destroying the giant tree that was shielding them from prying eyes. Parental instinct is strong, it goes way beyond the grave or afterlife. Even pierced by Raiton bolts, the couple that got to see their daughter for five and a half seconds, died shielding the little girl with their bodies.

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I was born on a rainy Monday, September twenty-eight. Christened with my parents blood, in the middle of a raging battlefield overthrown with illness and decay and violence.

The first thing I heard was a laboured breath.

The first thing I saw was a mysterious silhouette.

The first thing I touched was my mother's chest.

The first thing I smelled was a whirlwind of wet earth.

The first thing I tasted was blood.

Withstanding a day of battle, frozen in the eternal embrace of my parents, I laid naively until eventually a pair of hands preyed me away from my mother's breast and my father's chest. It was the only time I cried as a new-born.

Gentle deep, brown eyes relayed to me a wordless apology. The man in a red armour cradled me into a soothing embrace, crying over the loss of his only daughter. When his tears were too much for me to bear I was handed off to a different pair of hands. My head leaned against the soft fur on someone's neck.

"I begged her to stay. I told her it was too dangerous, that she should at least wait!" He wailed, gently laying the bodies to the ground. "..She was so stubborn and absolutely refused to let him go alone." The man lowered himself and let his long brown hair cascade down covering his sobbing mess of a face. It was a while until they eventually made their way back home. My wonky gaze tried to find my mother's embrace somewhere amidst the darkness, or the cold chest of my father but all I saw were blurs.

That's how I ended up in the care of my grandfather Senju Hashirama, his wife Uzumaki Mito and my great-uncle Senju Tobirama.

The first week of my stay in Konoha consisted of cuddling to another infant girl. Whenever she would cry for attention I would try to soothe her with some well-meant gestures, but to my dismay Tsunade continued to demand the attention of her parents. Both of them spotted rings under their bloodshot eyes , Tsunade was high-maintenance. I, on the other side, was content with the schedule provided by them. Food every two-to-three hours. Burping and or vomiting every two-to-three hours. Change of diapers every two-to-four hours. Sight-seeing every five-to-six hours. Ogling my infant state, each time anyone comes in.

That's how it was until I turned two and started taking care of myself, despite my poor gravity.

"Mito, isn't she too young to toddle around..?" I looked at the three adults in front of the baby-toilet. Apparently I also started understanding speech. A delicate frown appeared on my grandmother's face and she looked at grandfather as she helped me straighten my clothes.

"Each child is different, although I recon we started at a similar age." It was grandfather's turn to frown.

"But times changed, children don't need to grow up fast, only to be send out as cattle to _slaugh_ – _mmmph_!" Great-uncle Tobirama quickly covered his mouth.

"Aniki, are you completely clueless on top of completely dumb? Look at Hajiya." He gritted through his teeth, seething at my grandfather. My eyes lit up, ah, I'm named Hajiya. Hajiya. Hajiya. Hajiya. Hajiya. Hajiya. _Ha_ jiya. Ha _jiya._ I can't stop thinking my name. I shivered and looked up only to meet three pairs of intensive eyes. Was Haji – _ah_ , I missing something? I tilted my head.

"Yah, ue bue!" Grandfather spoke from behind uncle's hand. Rolling his eyes he released him.

"What Tobirama meant to imply is, that Hajiya, in fact, understands us." Whoopsie daisy. Grandfather squinted his eyes in order to see what his wife and brother already noticed. I grew uncomfortable under the scrutiny and stared back, hoping to have a free-pass straight back to my room. I already felt my cheeks heat from their undivided attention. I swallowed, uncomfortable.

That's when Tsuna crawled into the room and demanded with outspread arms to pick her up. Grandfather gushed at the opportunity since I wasn't known to like that, he always fell in momentary depression states because of it. I could kiss Tsuna right now, that's how grateful I was although, great-uncle's red eyes never seemed to deter from the subject of my integrity going by the knowing smirk he sent me.

Five months later I started picking up reading with the help of uncle Tobirama. It was pure coincidence that led to our daily lessons. I was sitting in the garden, shielded by a monstrous oak, when Tsunade decided to throw her porcelain doll at me. Knowing it the second she launched, I tried to shield the impact with the book from grandmother's library, when the doll was intercepted by uncle Tobirama. He frowned when he saw the book covering my chubby face. " _Chakura Nagashi.."_ Upon reading the title out loud uncle's frown only deepened. "Who in the world would give a child this book? I'm going to boil Hashirama in my Suiton Suidanha.." He muttered the last part, looking angrily in the direction of the Hokage tower. I felt a decisive pang in my chest, uncle does not joke around. The urge to defend my grandfather rose in me and biting my lip I decided to share my knowledge.

"…I took it myself." The sharp inhale of uncle Tobirama's breath and the way he snapped his head in my direction as if I just gutted him made me lower my eyes at my wriggling toes. In two seconds flat he was on his knees and touching my cheeks. I refused to nuzzle into his big hands, the fact I blushed was bad enough. "Since when do you talk?" I refused to meet his gaze, afraid of his disappointment. He pronounced my name in a way that let me know he demanded an answer. Swallowing I caved. "Since half a year." I heard him gasp. "Why haven't you told us?" I felt guilty and winced. "I wanted to wait until Tsuna could talk, too." Despite our weird relationship I could sense kinship between us, I loved her like a sister. Uncle Tobirama asked me to look at him, I did. "You have a great sense of loyalty but never let it slow you down, Hajiya." I also loved my name, each time someone said it I felt special. Nodding, I obliged. Uncle sighed. "Why are you reading volume two?" I blinked at him, wasn't it obvious? "Volume two comes after volume one, right?" He nodded, not following. My eyes widened when I looked at him. "I already read volume one." He snored, apparently amused. Murmuring something about Hashirama never letting him live it down, he straightened and took my hand. "From today onwards I shall teach you about every essential subject I will deem necessary for you to know." He declared. I obliged again and felt my heart squeeze weirdly. Perhaps, it was because of the pride in uncle's voice.

The next five months consisted of learning every basic information of every subject, my uncle was an all-or-nothing type of person which suited me well, since I had a sneaking suspicion it was the same when it came to myself. Although, on our very first session he straight out refused to acknowledge the fact that I managed to read a book with four-hundred and twenty-six sites in less than two hours.

"I did read it!" My words were pointed and I felt annoyed for the first time in my life. Uncle Tobirama crossed himself.

"Nobody can read a book with this many pages in just one day, let alone in three hours." My eye twitched.

"Two hours!" He raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't matter. I shall visit you again in a week and you better have read it by then." He started to turn when I threw the Shinobi History book at him which he of course had to catch.

"Ask me!" He slowly faced me back, eyes squinted.

"What?" I pursued my lips and stubbornly refused to let tears slip by. He didn't believe me. He didn't believe me. He didn't believe me. Shaking myself off of it, I replied.

"Choose a page, doesn't matter which." My arms crossed protectively in front of my chest and I had the urge to break the ongoing staring contest. Not breaking the eye-contact he flipped a few sites and his pointer catched a random one. He briefly glanced at it. "Two-hundred-fourteen." Instantly I felt the pull into memory lane and I started recalling each word, re-living the moment.

" –Amidst all the vying for supremacy, two clans emerged as the strongest: the Senju clan, famed for their balanced skill in all the shinobi arts, and the Uchiha clan, famed for their Sharingan. Whenever one side in a conflict hired one of the clans, the opposing side would hire the other clan. This constant competition created a deep-seated animosity between its members, with all Senju having lost a loved one to an Uchiha and vice versa. Despite the clans' enmity, it would be the Senju and Uchiha that brought an end to the Warring States Period. Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara met as children, unaware of each other's identity. They quickly became friends, bonding over the deaths of their brothers, their desire to protect their remaining siblings, and their dreams of a peaceful world where children wouldn't need to fight." I took a deep breath, back in the present. "Shall I continue?" Because there was more on that page, an explicit description of Grandfather and Uchiha Madara's childhood meetings. Uncle Tobirama blinked and for a second I saw a frown marring his forehead. He flipped pages back.

"One-hundred and twenty-nine." His eyes were on me, searching for spots where I could've possibly hidden the information. Sorry, Tobirama-ji, the only place where that would be is my brain.

"The clan is separated into two parts, the Main House - Soke and the Branch House -Bunke, a system that protects the secrets of the Byakugan from outsiders. The Main House runs the family while the Branch House protects it. The members of the Branch House are branded with a cursed seal upon the third birthday of the heir to the Main House. This seal gives the Main House members absolute control over the branch members, because they can destroy the branch members' brain cells with a simple hand seal, or cause them great pain to punish them. This seal also makes sure the secret of the Hyūga's Byakugan is safe, because it seals the Byakugan after the wearer of the seal dies. Because they are essentially servants, simply because of their birth order or heritage, some Branch House members are hostile to those of the Main House." I recited flawless.

Uncle tried time and time again but I answered it right down to the dot. At some point he switched sites before I was able to recite one-third of it and demanded to start anew. Also, he read to me the site number started at a casual point and I had to recite from it onward. At the end he did a final test; he acted as if he was reading from page three-hundred and eight when in fact he read from the next one. I kindly reminded him of that before continuing on. We stared at each other, he threw the book aside and took me on his shoulder without any explanation whatsoever.

"Uncle Tobirama, what are you doing?" I asked, trusting him with my body and hanging off his side reminding a sack of rice.

"Taking you to Tokka." I frowned.

"Aunt Tokka is a doctor." He grunted.

"I need to know what's wrong with you." I inhaled sharply and a cold shiver rid my body. I gulped. I'm not damaged. I'm not damaged. I'm not damaged. I'm not damaged.

..Or am I?

I suffered through all of the hospital examinations with serenity. Outside I seemed calm and collected, inside I was a whirlwind of worry and disappointment – in myself. I'm wrong. I'm wrong. I'm wrong. I'm wrong –

"There's nothing wrong with her, you fool!" My aunt screamed and the words made me yelp, giving me a good wake-up call. "Ah." She momentarily forgot about me and patted me on the head as an apology for the yell. I didn't care, there was nothing wrong with me. My eyes were in the middle of falling out of my sockets. Nothing wrong!

"But the book – " Steam came out of aunt Tokka's ears.

"Shad up you arro – " Uncle Tobirama covered my ears and I didn't hear a word after. Should I inform him that I was capable of reading lips? The thought of spending another day in the hospital gave me shivers. Uh-hu, no.

" – tests I ordered all summed up and it turns out that Hajiya has a rare ability to remember virtually everything she experiences including detailed visual recall." Uncle Tobirama uncovered my ears so I could hear the doctor's verdict. I didn't know what to do with it. I understood it and I heard it but I didn't judge it as neither good nor bad. Uncle Tobirama lowered himself to my eye-level and hugged me tightly, as if I had been on the verge of dying seconds earlier.

"I'm so very grateful you're healthy and perfectly normal." I opened my mouth but closed it, not knowing what to say. It was weird, I knew lots of words – and books- but I had no clue how to respond.

"I am grateful too." My mind provided. His arms tightened around my little frame and I ended up scoring a piggyback on the way home. I enjoyed the view from up here, the evening cast a pretty veil of red and orange over Konoha. At ease I propped my head on top of his and hummed a tune.

Suddenly my world grew black and white and a group of people passing us by was so very **black** it scared me to my meagre bones. My teeth chattered and I heard my heartbeat increase tenfold. The white and grey people were fine, my uncle was grey, I was white others were too but that group ten steps behind was **black**.

"Hajiya." Uncle broke through me and I was normal again. Colours, chattering and smells. All back. "Are you cold?" I nuzzled into his white fur and whispered. "No, but those people back there are." He asked me to elaborate so I did. After I told him uncle seemed to ponder everything, he looked as if he gained more age. Tired. Was it because of me? He squeezed my fingers reassuringly and I fell back in the fur. "You will have to tell it Mito, Hajiya."

I will, as long as you won't hate me.

Grandmother took a delicate sip of her peach tea and placed the cup back on the low table overseeing the garden from the wooden veranda.

"Hajiya, you are a very intelligent child so I will talk to you as such." Our eyes connected and I could tell whatever it was that grandmother was going to say will stick with me forever. "You have a very special ninjutsu ability that – frankly speaking – only I thought to possess. " She placed my hand in hers. "It's called Negative Emotions Sensing." The cat was out of the bag. "I assume you are aware of what negative emotions are?" She asked, not really expecting me to answer a rhetorical question. I did nonetheless.

"Negative emotions can be described as any feeling which causes you to be miserable and sad. These emotions make you dislike yourself and others, and take away your confidence. Emotions which can become negative are hate, anger, jealousy and sadness." Grandmother nodded and started talking again.

"Yet, in the right context, these feelings are completely natural. Negative emotions can dampen our enthusiasm for life, depending on how long we let them affect us and the way we choose to express them. The longer we hold on to them the harder it gets. Dealing with negative emotions inappropriately can also be harmful - for example, expressing anger with violence which is why I see our ability as a gift." I perked up, listening carefully.

"The moment we sense it in someone, we can arrange an adequate plan to counter-attack, before they have a chance to harm our loved ones. We have been given a warning bell and it rings each time a corrupt individual wishes to hurt us, our families, the village or everybody." I bowed.

"Thank you. For explaining it to me, grandmother." She chuckled and scooped me into an embrace.

"Of course." After a momentary silence. "Ne, Hajiya dear, since you remember everything you experience explicitly and in detail would you perhaps be interested.." She seemed to struggle and I turned on her lap to face her. " – in learning Fuuinjutsu?" The tentative way grandmother asked me made me realise she was afraid I'd label it as useless or boring. She was wrong. I squeezed her tightly and told her the truth; I'd love to learn about my Uzumaki legacy, grandmother. It was the only time I've ever seen her cry. Our bond grew stronger.

I read every book and everything that was given to me for the purpose to study and remember. Surprisingly, my brain didn't implode as I initially thought, and I ended my paper-studies. I already missed them.

Eating dirt I sat up and rolled away from the blow that would've hit me, I sputtered the earth out and collapsed taking mouthfuls of fresh air.

"Stand up." Uncle's sandaled feet entered the field of my vision. I don't wanna. I don't wanna. I don't wanna.

I stood and faced him again. I fell on my butt in ten seconds flat. This continued on for months. Remembering Katas was the easiest thing, it was then I discovered a pivotal truth about myself. I did not like physical exercise.

It'd grow one me said grandmother.

It's an honour to learn said uncle.

Bet said Tsuna.

Don't worry, Tobirama simply can't teach. Switch to team Grandpa! Said grandfather.

But the truth was, I was more suited to be a paper ninja than anything else, for that statement alone I was stammered into the ground, repeatedly. By Tobirama-ji.

"Shinobi are people that endure."

That's all I got as an answer other than the pummelling. I think uncle Tobirama would get a stroke if I decided to work in an office or in the decoding department, which I partly understand because even I see my own potential but at the same time, sometimes, I find myself awake in the middle of the night, sweating and shivering and chattering curling into myself and abhorring the potential. I take that's the part where I endure just like the muscle aches I permanently have to live with.

By the time I turned three it was deemed safe to determine my nature transformation, my affinity is decided by a piece of paper made from a special type of tree that is grown and fed with chakra. The whole family gathered in the living room with the shogi screen to grandmother's garden open providing a calming breeze. Uncle Tobirama sat on the tatami mat closest to mine, grandfather and grandmother were just to his right and Tsunade with her parents to my right. I felt nervous under such tight security. No matter what, I won't be able to escape and somehow this whole affair was more than usual, people don't just gather each time someone uses the special paper. Either I'm very special or my family is extremely tight-knit. I hoped for the latter.

Uncle handed me the chakra paper and I placed it in my open palm only to sandwich it between the other. Just like I read in the book, I closed my eyes and relaxed my breathing imagining a pulsating light slowly growing bigger until it embraced all of me. A decisive amount of chakra flew into the paper. I opened my palms. Half of the paper turned to dirt and crumbled away while at the same time the other dampened my palm and escaped between my fingers.

Earth and Water it was, then. Strong against water, weak against lighting. Strong against fire, weak against earth. I nodded, happy about my elements. I looked up – my Grandfather was inches from my face, looking like the proverbial cat that ate the canary. I fell ungraceful on my backside. _Way too intense!_

"Ha! Ha! I won, Tobirama. Hajiya, from today onward I'll be you Sensei and not that uptight brother of mine." Huh?

Uncle rose to his feet. "I will not let you influence my great-niece. Tsunade's favourite toy already are card-sets!" Hah? If not for my confusion I'd chastise grandfather.

"I knew it, Uncle let the money flow!" Screamed Tsuna's father, the second child of my grandparents. Her mother rose rapidly.

"What! You bet against our daughter?" She pointed at him. Tsuna read the mood and copied the movement. "How discouraging!"

"Ah, honey calm down! I just , err, well! Hajiya is smart, as is Tsunade, so naturally my bet is for both!" He defended himself rather poorly, even I was annoyed. Parents are supposed to believe in you. His wife just sighed. I felt a pang, remembering a wet chest and cold back.

"Gentlemen, sit." They did. It was no secret how absolutely frightening grandmother Mito could get. Meeting my eyes square on she said. "Hajiya, I will always be your teacher." Huh? Huh? What was I missing? It was just a double affinity, I don't have all five elements. Which pegged me slightly, but the feeling dispatched when the room grew rowdy. Grandmother sighed and flared her red chakra. Suffice to say everyone went quiet. You could hear a needle drop. "Tobirama, you should explain the situation to Hajiya. " The silent Now didn't help his nerves, he nodded acting unaffected.

Crossing his arms he started. "Hajiya, you most certainly noticed Hashirama's Mokuton prowess, yes?" He asked not really asking, just waiting for me to nod so he could continue. I did nod. He pressed forth. "Despite being his granddaughter you could just as well be Mito and Hashirama's child. In the beginning, all of us thought it was because you are orphaned and growing up around their personalities however, now you even possess Mokuton." Grandfather chose that moment to place me on his lap and continued himself.

"Each time I look at you I see Mito's eyes, my daughter's nose, her lips and chin. Your hair is just as silky as hers and the brown I have. Hajiya, your personality is a mix of our own yet your intelligence is something completely new. You're like a hybrid! And now, to top it all you've even got Mokuton!" He cheered, meanwhile I was still trying to instil some sort of emotional distress. It never came. Grandmother touched my shoulder reassuringly. I think they were waiting for me to throw a fit but, when I thought about it, I had no urge to. I'd go as far as proclaim I felt ..happy. Happy I'm like them. Happy I possess their qualities. Happy I'm a part of this family and no one could deny it, because my appearance apparently screamed their names. Looking around the room I noticed all of them were staring at me.

"..But." I still had a question. "How can you say with such certainty that I am capable of Mokuton? The only thing that speaks for it is my affinity for earth and water." Grandfather shook his head.

"It's only logical, with time you will see yourself as a part of a giant network. The more we will train the quicker you'll find out." I frowned, his logic was flawed.

"There's still a chance I don't have your legendary kekkei genkai, Oji-san." He took my face in both his hands and connected our eyes. For the second time that day he seemed deadly sure.

"I feel it in you." He whispered and I shivered.

"I understand." It was the first time I lied. Smiling I hugged my grandparents, even giggling when Grandfather tickled me. Even Tobirama-ji seemed relieved. I still felt unsure, and I would continue to for as long as there wouldn't be any strong evidence.

I got it a month later.

"Tsuna, you can't.." I tried to stop my also three year old cousin from sneaking out into town. She turned, her pig tails tickling my nose and I sneezed.

"I can, look!" To make her point she stepped over the threshold of our property. It would've been adorable if I knew we wouldn't get in trouble for it.

Sighing I said. "Your parents won't be happy."

She grinned mischievously. "I'll be happy." And off she went. I followed, making it my responsibility to ensure Tsuna's safety. She walked as if she owned the whole street, people parted for her; it only strengthened her newly discovered ego. I couldn't help but smile at my lovely cousin, the way she was handling herself despite the tender age of three was undoubtedly prodigal in a different way from me. Free.

"Hajiya, give me money." I blinked and was met with a set of determined brown puppy eyes. Tsuna added the feared pout and her short eyebrows scrunched down adorably.

"How much?" Of course I'd cave.

She grinned. "Two thousand!" I managed to withhold my spitting mouth.

"What for?" She pointed at a bar and I squinted my eyes to read. "..Bet tournament, entering fee two thousand ryo." My eyes went from the choppy paper to Tsuna and back. How did Grandfather manage to corrupt her this quick?

"Tsuna, no." I tried to sound like whenever Aunt and Uncle forbid her from doing a suspicious activity. She pursued her lips and let the dam break. Uh-oh, not good. How do I handle a crying child? I didn't cry despite being the same age, in fact I was younger than Tsuna by one month!

"Ah, Tsuna. Please don't – "

"Look, that's the Hokage's granddaughter. How disappointing." Two older ladies spoke in hushed tones. The brown haired one eyed us.

"Yes, to think the older one would embarrass Hokage-dono like this, how unfitting for a heiress." I felt my jaw clench and took a protective step toward Tsuna gaining their attention. It didn't stop the conversation.

"That's the prodigy, isn't it?" The black haired not-so whispered.

"Without doubt, I've seen her around Tobirama-dono. She really does look like the spitting image of the Hokage and his wife."

"Mh-hm! I even heard she ha – " I didn't let them finish and furiously snarled at them, Tsuna stopped her crying sentences ago.

"Do you not have better things to do than to gossip in front of us? And even this you two cannot get straight, the principle of talking behind other people's backs is to actually talk behind their backs, not in front of one-third of their face. If you meant to embarrass us I have to crush your pitiful hopes, the only thing both of you achieved is embarrassing yourselves." Both women lowered their heads and made themselves look meagre. I scowled and took Tsuna's hand.

"Why'd they do that?" She asked me with a raised eyebrow. I looked straight at her and said with as much cold as I could muster.

"It's what people without lives do." Five minutes later Tsuna was in love with a toy and I felt calm again. It just dawned on me, I had my very first tantrum. Because I wanted to protect Tsuna from them. Widening my eyes they moved to my cousin. Senju loved with all their hearts, just like the books said.

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I was searching frantically the streets and each alleyway I could spot. My head hurt from the increasing pressure every time I snapped it left or right or behind me. My lips were pursued and the organ that was supposed to pump blood into my body increased its beat.

I lost Tsuna.

Or she lost me, it didn't matter much. All that mattered was: one moment she was here and the other she was not. I don't even know how. It was an instant, a millisecond of taking my eyes off her. Because of that damn book I saw on the display. I bit my lip, furious with myself. I'm a disappointment. I disappointed my family and I disappointed Tsuna. I grinded my teeth and stopped near a tree quenching the urge to snap at it. It was a tree, nothing more nothing less. The blame is not for - _It's a tree!_ I jumped at it and pressed my palms against it.

Now, one thing I did read about Mokuton was that the user could connect with nature, specifically the trees. Trees had roots splayed all over the world, it was an underground map painted millennia's ago and it was still intact and extending. What's more important; I could find Tsuna with it. Pinpoint her location. My stomach twisted nervously, only if I _had_ it. Suddenly the idea seemed not so much appealing anymore. I shook my head. Tsuna was more important than that. I exhaled through my nose and calmed my beating heart. Pressing my body to the tree I waited for .. whatever it was that would connect me to the map. And waited. And waited. Opening my eyes I stared at the old wood.

"What do you want me to do?" I whispered angrily and turned around. Taking a few breaths I let my anger slip away, sat down and meditated. Calm mind, calm mind, calm mind. After a short while I stood up, the world seemingly more vibrant and less emotional. I closed the distance between the tree and myself and pressed my hands against the comforting surface of it.

I submerged into the most informative network that has ever existed. The splendour of it cannot be described in mere words. There were feelings, colours, currents and a complete new world. I felt as if I glided up a staircase and was on top of the world. Everything seemed approachable, clear for me to see. To find. And find I did. Tsuna was in a gambling hall, eight-hundred meters south. Disconnecting I sighed when I discovered she took my purse. Ah- _mah_ -zing! I patted the tree, thanking it in a grateful tone and went to find my gambling three year old cousin. The image I saw when I connected with the tree-map was worrying. She was losing, everyone knew what happened to gamblers if they couldn't pay their share. Even if they were five minutes out of a diaper. I shuddered, hoping I got there in time to swipe her off the crime scene.

Turns out I didn't have to. Uncle Tobirama found me when I stepped inside the parlour and connected the dots easily enough. He threw a screaming Tsunade over his shoulder and walked calmly back to our house. The rest of the evening was not pleasant, especially for my grandfather.

A month before my fourth birthday I was enrolled in the Academy.

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How was it? Do you like it? Is there any potentail? Because I think there certainly is some.

 **Leave some thoughts!**

Cheers!

The OC Senju Hajiya belongs to me.


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